Meet the Team | Holy Corner Community Playgroup

Meet our childcare professionals and support staff

We are lucky to have a wonderful team of experienced, kind and fun practitioners. Many of our practitioners have been with Playgroup for many happy years, and we are so lucky to have them.

Louise

Playgroup Manager

As Playgroup Manager, I provide mindful leadership to ensure that our values of 'Community' and 'Play' underpin our service provision for children, and that children stay at the heart of everything we do, in partnership with their families and carers. I work with parents on the Committee to continually improve and develop the service to meet the needs of families.

I bring diverse professional experience and education to my role, including a specific practice qualification in Childhood Practice. My practice is child-led, playful and kind, always respecting the rights of the child as an individual. My special research interests are in play, children's participation and creative arts practice in Early Learning and Care.

I live in the local community and, also as a parent, care about preserving our community spaces for children of all ages.

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Gemma

Lead Early Years Practitioner

I have worked in childcare for the last 25 years and have always had a genuine passion and love for working with children and supporting families.

For the last 10 years I have worked within the Health Visiting Team, helping parents and young children through those important early years of development.

I have been lucky enough to have had the opportunity to train in Baby Massage and Sleep Scotland amongst others incredible areas supporting children in their early years .

Alongside my professional experience, I am also a proud parent to a little girl myself, which gives me both personal and professional understanding of family life and childcare.

Creating a safe, nurturing, and caring environment for children is at the heart of everything I do.

Fahmida

Early Years Practitioner

I am a dedicated and enthusiastic member of the Holy Corner Practitioner team. I work 5 mornings at the Playgroup.

Through my work experience in many nursery schools and after-school clubs I have built strong relationships with parents and children.

During my time in nursery schools, I have worked with a vast range of people from different backgrounds and I have worked closely both with my colleagues and stakeholders daily.

I have great communication skills with the ability to communicate with people of all ages from different backgrounds and cultures due to speaking four languages Urdu, Punjabi, Hindi and English.

Frances

Early Years Practitioner

I have 15 years of experience working in early childhood and I’m also a proud mum of two boys. I love supporting children’s interests through outdoor play and sensory experiences, helping them learn, explore, and grow in a fun and nurturing way.

In my spare time, I enjoy reading and spending time with friends and family . I look forward to getting to know you and your family and working together to support your child’s learning journey.

Gretchen

Business and Development Manager

I have a background in disaster and emergency management professionally, including American Red Cross disaster response during Hurricane Katrina and local responses in Los Angeles, followed by local and regional emergency planning and response for local authorities in London. I also have experience in project management and event operations, having served as Senior Project Manager for London City Operations C3 for the London 2012 Games.

However, early childhood development and the child-led ethos adopted by Playgroup are close to my heart, as I undertook child development coursework, teaching and mentoring as a supervisor in my university's Early Academic Outreach Program.

As a local and as an Alumni Parent of Holy Corner Community Playgroup, I'm happy to be part of the team!